XMPP and Matrix are two competing federated end-to-end encrypted messengers. XMPP is far better, on server cost decentralization, speed over Tor, degoogled push notifications, multi-identities, and overall privacy. So if Matrix is inferior centralized bloatware, why is it more popular? Especially among techies, who should in theory understand these concepts.

This brand new video gives a quick overview of the technical reasons that XMPP is the gold standard king of federation. And it briefly discusses how Matrix manages to push it’s agenda: https://video.simplifiedprivacy.com/xmpp-vs-matrix-why-matrix-sucks/

Some critics will say that “Matrix is a complete package, while XMPP is fragmented”. This is essentially propaganda, because all the XMPP clients interact (Dino, Gajim, conversations, monocles). The only one that doesn’t interact is OTR encryption from pidgin which provides an alternative for hardcore cypherpunks who want to destroy the encryption keys when the conversation is done. So because one single client has an alternative use case, the Matrix cheerleaders want us to fill out Google Captcha spyware to register on Matrix.org because it costs so much to self-host.

  • fiat_lux@kbin.social
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    2 years ago

    From XMPP.org, a couple of choice extension specifications:

    XEP-0161: Abuse Reporting

    Abstract: This document specifies an XMPP protocol extension for reporting abusive XMPP stanzas.
    Status: Deferred
    WARNING: This document has been automatically Deferred after 12 months of inactivity in its previous Experimental state.
    Superseded By: XEP-0268

    XEP-0268: Incident Handling

    Status: Deferred
    WARNING: This document has been automatically Deferred after 12 months of inactivity in its previous Experimental state.
    Last Updated: 2012-05-29

    Internet communication is not a simple thing, I greatly respect the need for standards to be defined and measured. And these specification documents provide really good guidance on considerations. But it is not feasible to find wide-spread success if there isn’t even basic consensus on how to report spam after a hiatus of 10 years on v0.6 of a spec. There is a whole lot of process involved for a protocol that has very little decided.